TRNC must stay in sync with mainland time for technical reasons: Denktaş

TRNC must stay in sync with mainland time for technical reasons: Denktaş

Deputy Prime Minister Serdar Denktaş has said that last week’s tragic accident in which two school girls and their bus driver were killed was being politically exploited.

In a written statement, Denktaş said that the decision not to put back the clocks by one hour was because communications, banking and financial systems were linked to Turkey which had decided not to implement daylight saving time.

“The decision, far from being political, is a technical one which aims to prevent any difficulties which may arise in time difference with Turkey, our only window to the world.”

Denktaş also claimed that the protest actions taking place in the country were politically motivated.

Reminding that none of the trade unions had objected to the decision when it was first taken, Denktaş accused the unions of using the tragic accident to provoke the public.

“I had proposed to the unions that if we wanted to solve this problem permanently then we should examine the proposal prepared by the EU. Accordingly we should not raise salaries, introduce a 3% cut on all salaries above a certain figure and not purchase the Mercedes cars used by members of the cabinet. That would amount to a fund of 139 million TL which we could use to renew our roads. The response I got was that the roads should be renewed with money from Turkey”, he said.

Denktaş added that the real issue that should be discussed in the country was that a large portion of state revenues deriving from road taxes and traffic fines was being used to pay salaries of state employees.

“This issue is what will cause the real headache if and when we reach a settlement to the Cyprus Problem”, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister also pointed out that the TRNC was is no state to carry out infrastructural investments without additional funds from Turkey.

“This is the reality of the state structure that has emerged over the years. This structure is the result of the isolation imposed on us by the world and the financial restrictions brought upon us a result”, he added.

Denktaş also noted that “those who aimed to use this tragic event to drive a wedge between us, Turkey and the state in a bid to prepare the public for a referendum have been successful”.